Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5

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Evaluation Question 1

Audience Research Evaluation Question

Audience Research on Prezi

Script

This is the script for Joseph's speech, copied from a Celtx document.

INT. DINGY ROOM

A religious fanatic sets up the camera and then delivers an impassioned speech to it.

JOSEPH

Today, God's eyes are upon us. He sees all, and today, he will judge, as ever.

Friends, I do believe, that among us, there are sinners. Nay, I believe you all have sinned. And the weight of the sin lies upon you.

I see, for the Lord Himself has shown me. Your sins.

Our loving God has provided, but you, you all have betrayed Him, gone against His word.

He, friends, is not pleased.

And the holy vengeance and fury will be visited upon you all.

You will all repent for your sins, at the hands of our most righteous Lord.

But I, as He has granted me, I am his weapon.

I am the divine sword, His wrath personified.

God has made me. And in his almighty plan, I take my role.

The sins of man reign supreme.

Heathens and unbelievers and heretics, all deny the word of God.

But His word is supreme.

He has chosen me, to be his light.

To illuminate man's darkness, man's sin.

Sin deserves and requires righteous punishment.

And I am punishment.

I will enact God's will.

I shall cleanse the sin from God's earth.

And today, as the eyes of the Lord shine upon us, I will take the first lost soul, and make him feel the wrath of the almighty God.

Today, He shall feel the terror of damnation.

I will bring Hell to earth.

I will bring punishment to the damned.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the preliminary task, we greatly increased our focus on sound and mise en scene, both of which were somewhat neglected. We developed and planned the costumes to suit the characters, scouted more accurate locations, made sure everything fit the film's versimilitude, as well as paying attention to small details, such as the tape cross on the wall behind the antagonist, despite it receiving barely a second of screen time. We were also overly careful, it turned out, bring a mattress and arranging the room to look as though a homeless person were squatting there, even though the room was barely seen in shot, and not at all in the case of the mattress. 

  In terms of lighting, we actually used specific lighting, rather than using natural light as we did with the preliminary task. We used a very dramatic chiaroscuro down-lighting effect during the antagonist's speech, which vastly improved the look and affect of the film.

  With the sound, we focused again on the small details, including a specific soundtrack, as well as small, non-diegetic rising sounds to create a more suspenseful atmosphere, as well as creating an original soundtrack, which was more specifically designed to our needs.

  Mostly, we learnt from our progression to final project the value of the small details in the film-making process and how even though during the process of film-making, they may seem insignificant and perhaps not even useful, they all add up and result in a much more professional and better film, with even the mattress possibly making a difference to my acting by creating the atmosphere, although that may be a bit of a stretch.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In terms of technology for our group, we decided to make use of each group members particular skill. this is mainly what we learnt about technologies as a group, that they are best used by a particular person who is best at that aspect of filmmaking, and so work using technologies is best delegated between the group. While Ed used Sony Vegas for editing and Jack used Adobe Photoshop and After Effects to create the titles, I mostly stuck to a pre-production role of writing and presenting the idea for the film.

Celtx
This is the software I used for the basic scriptwriting. I had previously used it for other film projects, so I was already able to use the software, and as the script was quite simple, with only the dialogue needed to be written properly, it was relatively easy.

Prezi
I used this software to create the original presentation that presented the idea to the other group members. This was my first time using it, although I had heard of it, I was previously dissuaded by its apparent difficulty in use and how different it was to the Microsoft Powerpoint I was used to. In the process of creating this initial presentation however, I learnt to overcome these difficulties in use and become more accustomed to the alternative software, seeing it more for its advantages in customisability and its ability to interest audiences by more easily including media such as photos and videos, and learning to adjust and preserve through technical difficulties.

iMovie
iMovie was used to create a voiceover for one of the preperatory tasks, a commentary over a key scene in Psycho. I worked together with Jon for this, and we learnt how to more efficiently record short voiceovers by cutting them into shorter recordings and organising them appropriate over the film, rather than a single, long voiceover in which we would stop talking or rush to keep up with the film.

Youtube
Youtube was actually one of the most used technologies, as I used it for research, watching clips from Seven, taking inspiration from the character of John Doe, and also clips of street preachers, which I heavily based the antagonist, Joseph's, speech on. From this, I learnt the value of using technology to research other films in more detail, particularly characterisation, as for previous films, I had done very little research and so had less developed characters because of that.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution that would be likely to distribute our film would be some sort of independently focused distribution studio. For example, a studio like Fox Searchlight or The Weinstein Company, which typically distribute independent and foreign films.
While studios rarely focus their distribution on one particular genre, as our film is quite alternative, it would be difficult for a mainstream studio, like Walt Disney Pictures, to choose to distribute it, as it would not suit the mainstream audience they would aim for, and it would not be successive enough to warrant the risk of investment from a mainstream studio.
Fox Searchlight would be a good choice as it focuses on independent films, particularly British films which is definitely an advantage, and as it is a subsidiary of Fox, would have a large budget to oversee an international release, although that would be very hopeful. Also, many previous films distributed have achieved great success, propelling small scale, independent British films, such as 28 Days Later and The Last King of Scotland to critical renown and success.
Miramax Films would be another choice, although less ideal than Fox Searchlight, it still shows a similar focus on small, independent films such as The Magdalene Sisters, which would be good for our film, as it is small-scale, independent and quite alternative, it would suit Miramax Films for distribution.

However, for our film, as due to the advances in technology, an ideal choice for distribution, would be VOD or (Video On Demand) as it allows the production company to retain easier control over the distribution and allow it to reach more audiences through systems such as Viera Connect or OnDemand more cheaply. As it is not fully set up as of yet, hopefully, if it were to expand as many companies are planning for it to, it would be an ideal choice for distribution.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Religious Fanatic

Our film features a very negative depiction of a Christian fanatic. He is presented as the main antagonist in the film and during the opening sequence, beats someone up and then kidnaps them, as well as express radical opinions and intentions in his speech. He shows classic extremist behaviour. Also, he is presented as being possibly homeless, wearing dirty clothes typical of a homeless person and performing his speech in an underground location, suggesting that he is squatting. The dramatic down-lighting, meant to evoke a divine influence, highlighting the religious motivation behind the character.

Influences from other films

From this clip of John Doe from Se7en, we took the latter part of John Doe's speech, his angered intensity and the kind of motivation. In this way, our antagonist is similar to John Doe.

Influences from real life events

Our antagonist is similar to Anders Behring Brevik in terms of extremism. Although not as violent as Brevik, they both maintain similar Christian fanaticism and the motivation to carry it out violently.

We took inspiration from Christian street preachers in terms of the speech our antagonist gives, using similar language. Also, they resemble our antagonist in terms of their outspoken views, and the Youtube recording is meant to be a more modern and fanatical interpretation of street preachers and televangelists.

Homeless

Our film also presents homeless people in a very negative light. Again, this is because the main antagonist is a representation of a homeless vagrant, living underground, and also being violently insane and criminal. He is dressed in a very stereotypical costume of clothes a homeless person would wear, although in terms of mise-en-scene, we were limited by scale and budget, so he is not presented as homeless as we would have liked.


Middle Class

The victim played by Jack, is a stereotypical middle class teenager, who in the film is presented as the weak victim. While it subverts the traditional damsel in distress role by giving it to a male, it still places the social class most likely to be presented as useless, the middle class, as the character in the victim role. His only part in the opening sequence is to be beaten up, kidnapped and then struggle at the very end, so he takes an extremely passive role in the film. The character is dressed in an average smart-casual costume, and although the location is unconventional for that character, it is necessary to the narrative.

Influences from other films

In this clip from The Silence of the Lambs an example of the typical, although upper middle class instead of  simply middle class, victim. This is similar as both are kidnapped and do not resist and kept hostage by the antagonist.

The girl, Kim, is kidnapped in the film Taken, and is similar again in terms of a middle class victim. Although she is still upper middle and female, she is still portrayed as a complete victim. Also, Taken is a more action-orientated and fast-paced action film, so the similarity is slightly tenuous.

Diary - Filming and Editing

Last week, we filmed the second part of the opening sequence, the street scene. For this, I reassumed the role of the religious fanatic character, Joseph. We travelled to a local alley to film the assault and kidnapping of Jack's character. Unfortunately, we were only able to film this scene in the day time, as it was the only time where the whole team could make it and also, an evening scene would need lighting, which would be difficult to acquire lighting. However, apart from a woman worried about us defacing nearby buildings, the filming went well.

This week, Ed has been editing and creating the music with Jack, whilst Jon and I have been researching the music and looking at the evaluation questions and familiarising ourselves with them, as there is little to do while waiting for Ed to finish editing.

Diary - Filming and Set Construction

This week and last, we have been filming the YouTube clip section of our opening sequence. For this, we went into the basement and constructed a set for the religious fanatic character's home, a sort of underground dingy squat. We placed a mattress on the floor and draped a dirty dust sheet over the window,  which served to cover the unsuitable window and make the room darker and allow for the extreme contrast lighting we used. I also chose my costume, which consists of a dark green flannel shirt, a large fur lined coat and dirty, paint covered trousers. This was designed to show the character's scruffy almost vagrant-like nature. I played the role of the religious fanatic, Joseph, which involved a lot of shouting in a dark room.

Diary - Location Scouting

This lesson we went down into the basement to do some location scouting. We thought to use the basement instead of an out of school location as we first planned was that possible out of school locations were hard to find and our initially planned location became unavailable. Also, the ease of access for the basement would make the production easier. During our location scouting, I took some photos to upload to the group blog.

Diary - Writing the Script and Analysing John Doe

Last week, I wrote the script for the only dialogue in our opening sequence, the speech by Joseph, the religious maniac antagonist. Before writing this speech, I performed research by watching youtube clips of various Christian preachers, taking note of the heavily religious language they used, and then going on to emulate their speeches in Joseph's. The script I produced was extremely basic, purely focusing on the dialogue, as everything else was included in the story board, so I thought it was unnecessary to produce a detailed script.

Also, we watched clips from Se7en which involved the character John Doe, mainly the car conversation and the surrender scene. This task was simple, as I watched the clips and took notes on aspects of John Doe's character. Coincidentally, quite a few of John Doe's character aspects were already shared by our antagonist, such as the emotion during his preaching, an aspect of education, and the spite and anger against other people. Although this could have come from the fact that I have seen Se7en previously, and could have included these aspects from memory.

Audience Research

From what I previously know about thriller audiences, they generally seem to aim for a predominately male, 15-35 audience. Our film is generally quite a conventional thriller, seeing as it does not include any aspects from different genres, such as a love interest or a historical setting, therefore, it would be best to stick with the general audience expectation for the thriller genre.


In reading the UK Film Council study, I found the concept of an avid fascinating. While it would be good to aim for all three types of avid, perhaps the most accurate and likely to be part of the target audience would be the summit avids and the scattergun avids. The summit avids would be an ideal part of the audience as our thriller combines several aspects of thriller sub genres, with the technological aspects in the YouTube clip, the religious and crime aspects in the antagonist and perhaps aspects of a psychological thriller. I feel this combination of sub genres and the way in which we plan to do this is fairly unique and so would attract the summit avids. However, this combination of sub genres may also dissuade the specialist avids, as they have a dismissive nature towards films, which sadly may include our film. Also, scattergun avids would be included in our audience, as they have a wide love of film, and so it would be easier to consider them as part of the audience for our thriller film.


From the research of the film journey, I feel that our thriller film fits into most of the parts of the film journey. Although it does not fit the youngest audiences approach, that does not damage the film, as it would never be marketed to an audience of that age. It does fit into the "film as identity" section, although somewhat loosely, as it goes beyond mainstream film choices. Also, the "film as culture" would be appropriate, as again, our film seems to be more alternative than mainstream.


In terms of audience types, our film could be marketed to all of the types, except "Mainstream". Our film could be considered as quite alternative, but for a "Mainstream Plus" audience who would watch a film they would enjoy, our film could be considered. As a slightly more specialist and alternative film, it could be aimed easily at both the "Aficionado" and "Film avid" audience types.


Finding a direct case study to compare was difficult, as our film is mostly a religious thriller, and that in itself is a generally quite obscure film genre, and our film also combines aspects of other films. From this, finding a single film which I could compare the audience results from would be too hard, so instead I chose to view several different films which had a similarity with our idea, and then see if they shared overall similarities in audience.
Chatroom, has a similiar technological aspect, but its audience was mainly female (60%) and the story only drew 12% of the audience, which would suggest a complete opposite to our proposed audience. However, this modern technological aspect seemed to be reflected in the majority (84%) Under 25 audience, which seems a promising similarity with our proposed audience.
NEDS, shares an urban setting and a similar age for the cast.  While it again, has a majority female audience (55%), it has a majority under 35 audience (53%), which while the films itself are very different, the superficial similarities could help our film share this under 35 audience.
Troll Hunter, shares a similarity in being a combination of genres: fantasy and found footage, and as film shares found footage aspects, this could assist our audience predictions greatly. It has both a majority male and under 35 audience (Both 58%) and interestingly, the bait of it seemingly like a cult film drew 16% of the audience, and our film, could also be somewhat said to share this cult aspect. The "docu-style" bait drew 21% of the audience, and while the similarities with our film are somewhat vague, the found footage aspect is a shared aspect, so it could draw audiences.


Overall, I would say that the audience profile for our film would be male, either in his late teens or early 20s, with a love of film, particularly more alternative and obscure films, and a passion for different kind of films, and perhaps an interest in religion or the issues involving it. I feel that someone of this kind of description would be the most interested in wanting to watch our film.

Character Study- John Doe

 From the clips of Se7en we watched, the phone call between John Doe and Mills, the scene in which John Doe surrenders and the conversation in the car.

• Hate/disgust for others.
• Calm.
• Sarcastic, but polite to others, particularly Mills.
• Quiet.
• Educated.
• Cunning.
• Well planned.
• Mysterious.
• Spiteful.
• Viewed by other characters as crazy.
• Hides emotions, until preaching about his cause in the car, as he gradually becomes more emotional then.
• Other characters dismiss his ideals.
• Confident.
• Enjoys toying with other people.

Thriller Opening Sequence Notes

The first opening sequence we viewed was from Die Hard 4.0. For this, I mainly observed the camerawork. I noticed that throughout the sequence, there were remarkably few establishing shots, despite featuring quite a varied amount of locations. The first shot, served as both an establishing shot, and using a long sweeping track, to a mid shot of the character, which served to tell more about the character, as a university student, than the location itself or its place in the narrative. Most of the rest of the opening sequence was composed of close ups of characters on computers and extreme close ups with lots of very fast movements like tracks and zooms of their computer screens. This serves to create an intense and hectic atmosphere to the hacking and the rest of the opening sequence. The nature of the opening sequence changes upon an establishing shot, and a location change, to the FBI headquarters in Washington DC. From here on, there are fewer camera movements, and are much slower, with more medium shots and long shots to show the larger number of characters in one shot. However, when the computers are hacked, a lot of close up reaction shots are used to show the surprise of the FBI characters at this event.

The Interpreter was the second extract we saw. This extract was almost completely different, with the camera still for most of the first half of the extract, composed of mainly very long shots with the main character being the only movement in shot. It also used focus pulls, which adds to the slow feel of this opening. Also, the character walks quite slowly and casually, implying that this is a normal action, removing most of the tension from the opening sequence. She is the only one in this shots, however, which implies a sense of isolation, coupled with the night time setting, creates a slightly suspicious atmosphere as well. When she overhears the conversation, the tension builds as she runs. An enigma is also used as the audience cannot hear this conversation, so what the main character overhears is a mystery that we assume will be revealed, making the audience interested in finding out just what made her so shocked. Also, as she leaves, the camerawork repeats the same shots and angles that were used as she came in, only with more camera movement following her running, increasing the pace and tension in the sequence.

The last extract, from The Usual Suspects, mostly focuses on its use of enigmas. The camerawork in this sequence is, like The Interpreter, very slow, but also uses a lot of close ups, only really showing the location through establishing shots about halfway through the sequence, this helps add to the mystery, but also creating a more personal feel with the dying man, despite knowing little about him. This, along with the fact that we do not see the face of the other man leads us to side with the dying man, and also be confused as who the other man, a use of enigma. Also, the very end of the opening sequence, a police interview, seems to be taking place at a completely different time to the previous scene, leading to more confusion as to what is happening.

Narrative Idea Generation

In this lesson, we were given post it notes, with a short synopsis of the storyline of thriller films, and we were asked to come up with our own thriller ideas, based on a more modern concept, integrating some aspect of modern technology into the storyline.

My idea was based on the storyline from the film KNOW1NG, but instead, the main character receives a phone call, with no one on the other end from a unknown and seemingly incorrect phone number with too many numbers. However, a day after he receives the phone call, a disaster occurs, a bus crash. Soon after, he receives another phone call, from a different number, but still incorrect. Again, a day later, another disaster occurs. Deeming this to be far from coincidence he starts viewing the strange phone numbers again, noticing that the first phone number began with the number of the bus. He then spends an entire night trying to decipher the first numbers, comparing them to the newspaper articles detailing the events. In the morning, after staying up all night obsessing with the numbers, he receives yet another phone call. This time, he realises he can take action and rushes to both decipher the possible answers to the code and to investigate how the coded details relate to real life and the potential disaster in coming.

Response to Criticism

I think that both the criticisms are very positive and fair, although maybe not as harsh as perhaps I would have viewed my own work.
I agree with what both comments said about how our conventions are portrayed in the clip, through mise en scene such as the briefcase, and our attempt to create a contrast between the two characters and suggest things about them through the costuming.
I also agree with James' criticism that the location could have been much more secretive for the genre, and for the final exercise, this is something we will certainly take note of. I agreed with his criticism of the lighting as well, as admittedly, we didn't put very much effort into the lighting, as it is hard to achieve suitable lighting in a lesson due to the set up time and the limited amount of time we had for the preliminary exercise. Nonetheless, we shall take note of the criticism and attempt to use more appropriate lighting in the final exercise.
I am happy with the other comments that compliment our use of techniques and fulfillment of the exercise's requirements, although I do believe that we did break the 180 degree rule slightly too often. The effect of the breaking is relatively minor, but I feel that if we did the same for the final piece of work, it would probably detract from our grade, so in future, we will have to try harder to keep in with both the conditions of the exercise and basic continuity editing.
Overall, I am pleased with our comments and how positive they seem to be, and I look forward to the final project, in which we will try much harder to refine and improve on our work.

9 Shot Preliminary Analysis

Nine shots cf

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Peer Review - The Fellowship

This is what Ed and I have commented on The Fellowship's video:


The sequence is clear and concise – it is easily to understand about what is going on. The characterisation is also concise, as we are able to establish the two characters easily as ‘the interrogator’ and ‘the hostage’. Although the plot is easy to understand, the idea does leave questions unanswered, which is a thriller genre convention, the enigma in the narrative.

In terms of mise en scene, they have used minimal costuming, with only Ed having a hood over his head. However, as the school uniform does look like a suit, it does manage to keep in with thriller mise en scene. With props, they have paid attention to thriller convention, Francois carries a rope and they have placed a chair in the interrogation room, both of which follow conventions. In terms of the location, the clip starts in the manor, which looks like a generic building, suiting the frequently urban setting of the thriller genre. The clip later goes into the cellar, which also suits genre conventions as it is dark, and again, very urban and built up. In terms of lighting, the start of the clip uses lighting to silhouette Francois and Ed, using the thriller convention of shadows, and adding a lot of mystery and enigma to the beginning of the clip. However, the rest of the clip does not use many lighting techniques. The acting in the clip, is very good for a preliminary task, with both actors staying in character throughout.

The conventions are generic throughout, due to the recurring mystery and conventions which are visible at all times. The fact that Ed is being dragged through a dingy cellar which has a long corridor is stereotypical to the thriller genre, as it highlights the mystery and shadows, which are conventional. The OSCAR winning acting from Ed and Francois add to the mystery and suspense, creating an atmosphere of mystery.

Thriller Extracts

The first film we watched an extract from was Cape Fear, in which a released convict stalks and harasses the lawyer who had him sentenced. The extracts which we saw all used mystery, as the camera tended to follow one of the lawyer's family, but showing shots of the antagonist close by. This created a sense of mystery as well as tension as the audience knew that the antagonist was present, but we had to wait to see what his actions would be. The mise en scene used on the antagonist was unusual, with the primary colour of his costume typically being white, a radical choice of colour for the antagonist, but his messy, scruffy costume, as well as the fact that the white made him stand out more against the sober formal outfits of the protagonists family and the people in the courtroom. Also, in the last extract, he was shirtless, a mise en scene choice which was perhaps used to suggest a wildness to his personality. There was an interestingly framed shot in one of the extracts, in which the antagonist approaches the camera, a POV shot from the perspective of the protagonist's daughter. The framing was interesting as the shot was a wide shot, and the antagonist was extremely small in the frame, as well as having lots of extras walking around him. However, the antagonist was placed completely central in the frame, walking down an avenue, and being framed by both the extras and the roadside on either side of him, directly towards the camera, seeming very threatening. Also, hyperbolic sound was used for his footsteps, as they seemed to rise above the rest of the soundtrack. This made the sound of him approaching even more threatening as the sound rose so clearly above everything else, making him the central focus.

The second extract was from What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, in which an aging and failing actress abuses her sister, a more successful actress, who has since been disabled in a car accident. The extract we watched used a lot of suspense, as we saw Blanche throw the small piece of paper asking for help out into the window, and then saw her sister Jane pick it up. From this point, the audience knows something will happen, and the dialogue scene between the two sisters after, seems to escalate the tension even more as the audience waits for the result of Jane finding the piece of paper, with this long wait contributing to the building of suspense.

Another extract we saw was from the film Fatal Attraction, in which a man's affair goes wrong as his lover grows even more insane and violent towards him. In the extract, we saw Michael Douglas' character walking through a car park, and like with the extract of Cape Fear, saw the antagonist watching the protagonist. This again creates a feeling of tension as the audience can see the antagonist nearby and will make guesses as to what they will do. However, this extract was different in that Michael Douglas' character was unaware of the antagonist being there, creating dramatic irony as the audience knew what would happen. As we then watch Michael Douglas' character walking along to car park, the tension builds, even more so with the car alarm going off as he walks by, as to what the antagonist will have done.

The final extract we saw was from The Silence of the Lambs, in which a rookie FBI agent investigates a number of mutilations. The extract was from one of the final scenes, and like the extracts of Fatal Attraction and Cape Fear, we saw the antagonist Buffalo Bill, watching the protagonist Clarice Starling, as she is unaware of his presence. However, this is done differently as we see it from a POV shot from Buffalo Bill's perspective as Clarice stumbles around in the darkness. This builds a lot of tension as we can see just how close Buffalo Bill is to Clarice, and the audience anticipates something happening even more.

Diary - Creating the Animatic

Making an animatic for the storyboard was interesting and also quite simple to do. To create it, we took photos of all of the frames in the storyboard. We then uploaded the photos onto iMovie, and put them in order to create a rough animation out of them. Then we recorded a commentary by taking it in turns to read what was written on the storyboard about the shot type, sound and content of the shot. We then edited the length of the clips showing each storyboard frame so they fit the commentary properly and preventing the commentary running over multiple frames and becoming confusing. After this, we saved and exported the iMovie clip into Quicktime and uploaded it to the group blog.

The post is in the link below:

http://chrisedjonjack.blogspot.com/2011/11/storyboard-animatic.html

Diary - Writing the Script

Today, I wrote the script for our preliminary task. In order to do this, I followed the typical conventions of film scripts by first writing a slug line to set the scene : "INT.  OFFICE - DAY" and also setting the dialogue apart from the descriptions, by adding a space. Normally, the dialogue would be central on the page, which it was in the original word document, but could not be done in a blog post.

The script abides by thriller conventions as it uses enigmas. In particular, the object inside the flight case in never revealed and is kept as a mystery throughout the short. Also, the relationship between the two characters in the script is implied in the script, but never directly stated. Another thriller convention is used in the dialogue as all of the dialogue is kept very short and punchy, which is often used in thriller dialogue.

Idea Gathering

In today's lesson, I looked at examples of the preliminary exercise from other groups at a different school. This allowed us to see what is expected of us in the task, as well as gain some ideas for how to be creative and unique within the boundaries of the task. It also allowed us to see roughly the level of quality we should be aiming for.

We also has an opportunity to note the other groups' use of the conversation to establish thriller conventions such as the enigma, which is an idea we hope to include. Also, we saw examples of different and creative uses of the match on action in some of the clips, differing from the typical door opening match on action. gain, we hope to include a more interesting use of match on action in our own preliminary task.

However, we also learnt to avoid some problems we found in the other preliminary tasks, such as abiding by the 180 degree rule, as we found other preliminary tasks seemed to accidentally break it. Also, some examples used transitions that seemed out of place, such as a slow fade, as thriller films tend to use quick simple cuts instead.

How does The Shining fit thriller conventions?

Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining is an extremely popular and influential psychological horror/thriller, setting a basis on which many following films in the same genre would seek to emulate. While many people would view The Shining as a horror film, it also contains many conventions frequently found in the thriller genre and particular sub genres, such as supernatural thriller and psychological thriller.

Most of the narrative in The Shining follows the conventions of a psychological thriller. It follows Jack Torrance's slow descent into insanity, which is a key narrative feature of psychological thrillers, which typically focus on a mental conflict rather than physical. Another narrative point used in psychological thriller films, is where the conflict of the protagonist is within himself, rather than from any other external source or antagonist. This is clearly shown in the character development in the character of Jack, who goes from being the almost the sole protagonist at the very beginning of the film to the primary antagonist and main threat to the characters. The character development is also important, as like other psychological thriller films, The Shining mainly focuses on character over plot.

One of the main features of The Shining which ties it to the psychological thriller sub genre is how perception and reality is questioned. This is a very common convention in films that typically deal with one character slowly becoming insane, as it tends to replicate the effects of their oncoming illness. This is a frequently recurring theme in the film, as many of the surreal, paranormal events that happen to the family seem to be some sort of hallucination such as the twin girls who appear to Danny and the recurring scene in which blood pours from the elevators down the corridor. These events, particularly through how surreal they appeal to be, as well as the film's use of very short montages of extremely brief shots of horrific imagery and events, tend to show a slightly unreal side to these events. However, as the film reaches the conclusion, reality is questioned even more with the final shot of Jack Torrance in 1921, which leaves a final confusion with the audience as to the truth. Another narrative point that links The Shining to the thriller sub genre is the use of intelligence or wits to overcome the antagonist or conflict, which is found when Danny loses his father by utilizing the method in which his father is chasing him, and turns it to his advantage, walking backwards through his tracks.

Also, elements of the narrative connect The Shining to the supernatural thriller sub genre, in particular "The Shining" itself, which is a form of telepathy, making it a clear supernatural element. It is also very important to the narrative as a whole, making the supernatural thriller aspect explicit. Also, many of the hallucinations during the film, if not just hallucinations, then would clearly be supernatural events, and as implied by the previous ghost stories told to the family and the fact that the Overlook Hotel is built on a Native American burial ground, these events could possibly be ghosts, and would therefore be supernatural.

The mise en scene of The Shining fits in with the appropriate mise en scene typical of the thriller genre. It takes place in a modern time setting, although does not take place in an urban environment, which slightly goes against thriller conventions, although it is necessary for the character development. The Shining features a lot of modern props, such as the radio and the snowcat, as is typical of the modern setting of thriller films. Also, the lighting of the film corresponds to thriller conventions as the lighting is relatively low key throughout, although it subverts the tendency to use dark environments as the Overlook Hotel is reasonably well lit, although this also helps it avoid the stereotypical horror setting as well.

The sound used in The Shining easily fits into thriller conventions, as it is very suspenseful and is constantly used to build tension and mystery. It is also very hectic, with lots of strings playing at once, creating a confusion and unnerving atmosphere, building the tension and giving the audience the impression that horrific events are about to unfold. Also, the strings are very high pitched, being even more unnerving and building the tension, as the audience expects something to happen as the strings get higher and build the suspense.

The camerawork uses the wide variety of shot types typically found in thriller films and also uses lingering shots with very long durations to set an unnerving mood. These long duration shots break the convention of thriller films using very short shots, but in breaking the convention, allows a more strange and unusual, and in breaking the conventions, unexpected atmosphere to develop from the use of long duration shots.

Overall, The Shining uses many key aspects of it's mise en scene, sound, camerawork and narrative to tie it to the thriller genre and related sub genres in narrative.

Making a Group Blog

Today we ( I ) set up the group blog for our blog. Firstly, we thought of calling our group blog "The Chris, Ed, Jon and Jack Blog" but upon seeing another group using the name "The Fellowship" We made a group decision to one up them and go with "The Rebel Alliance" which is a much more superior group name.

The other members of The Rebel Alliance tried to assist with my task, realistically, it can only be done on one computer, so I did all the work.

Thriller Sub-genres

As thriller is such a broad genre, for classification, it is divided into many more specific sub genres, such as:

Edge of Darkness

Conspiracy Thriller
In which the protagonist faces a powerful group of enemies and is typically the only character, or one of very few characters aware of the threat and therefore participating in the conflict.

Seven

Crime Thriller
A hybrid of crime and thriller genres that are typically a suspenseful recount of a crime. They typically focus more on the criminal as opposed to the law enforcement and concentrate on action instead of psychological aspects.




















Legal Thriller

Law Abiding Citizen

In which the protagonist, typically a lawyer or attorney has a conflict with antagonists both inside the courtroom and outside. Also, there is frequently a danger to the protagonists lives that separates it from similar genres such as courtroom dramas.

The Ghost

Political Thriller
A thriller in which the conflict falls around a political power struggle. Typically involve giving illegal political power to an antagonist or criminal. Almost always involve national or international politics.

Fight Club

Psychological Thriller
A thriller in which the key conflict is psychological or emotional rather than physical. The protagonist normally stumbles into the conflict by accident and does not start out as one of the main sides to the conflict. Characters normally use more mental means to overcome their enemies, if the enemies are not themselves, as is common in some psychological thrillers.

Unbreakable

Supernatural Thriller
In which the conflict typically involves supernatural or paranormal aspects, sometimes as part of the characters' abilities or as part of the setting around them.

Editing Techniques

Match on Action

A match on action is an editing technique which shows an action being completed over multiple shots, typically with the action in the first shot, and the result of the action in the second shot.

An example occurs in this clip of Kill Bill at 1.25 through three shots.

Shot - Reverse Shot

A shot reverse shot is a technique which typically shows a conversation, cutting back and forth between two shots, one of each character, that stays within the 180 degree rule. As the characters are facing in opposite directions in the shots from their perspective, it is assumed by the audience that they are having a conversation

An example of this in Inglourious Basterds starts with the conversation at 0.29.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a rule used for continuity editing that places an imaginary line passing through two characters. The camera is only allowed to stay on that side of the line and crossing the line would be disorientating to the audience. It means that both of the characters stay on one side of the shot, while crossing the line would mean they switch sides.

An example of following the 180 degree rule is in this scene from Death Proof.

Psycho Commentary Reflection

To make our film clip commentary, we first found and watched a clip from our chosen film, Psycho. As we watched it, we made notes on what we saw, particularly on the thriller conventions that we saw, such as the shadow motif. After we had rewatched the clip enough times and made sufficient notes, we added to the notes, making them into full paragraphs. We then downloaded the clip from Youtube, and adding it to iMovie so we could add a commentary. After this, we split the notes into three, and we each read our third by reading and recording a paragraph at a time, and then positioning them to fit better to the content and timings of the clip. However, we did have some difficulty with this as most of what we had to say all occurred very quickly, so we had to reposition some audio to allow the whole commentary to fit. We then uploaded the clip to Blogspot.

Through this exercise, i have acquired a better understanding of how film commentaries and voiceovers work, and how even very short clips can have very large amounts of cinematographical details to analyse. I  also learnt how difficult it can be to get a commentary to match up to what is happening on screen. I also noticed how subtle some elements of the cinematography can be in a clip, and how they can only be noticed through repeated viewings or paying attention to very specific details, such as how Lila hits the light as she screams and creates the dynamic lighting found in the rest of the scene, and how subtle some of the motifs can be, so a casual watcher might not consciously be aware of them.

Psycho Commentary

Thriller Conventions

The thriller genre is characterised by it's use of tension and suspense, shown through the narrative but also through sound and editing. Of course, a vast majority of films use tension and suspense making thriller one of the more broad genres of film. 
The key conventions found in most of thriller films are:


Narrative

• Often feature a crime at the heart of the narrative.
• An enigma, for example, in a mystery thriller, the enigma would be the mystery that forms the narrative.
• A complex storyline, using red herrings and cliffhangers.
• Narratives often involving conspiracies, pursuit or investigations.
• The protagonist uses intelligence to solve the mystery or win against the antagonist, as opposed to brute force.

Characters

• A protagonist with a mysterious past that is only alluded to during the film/
• Often a more "anti-hero" style protagonist.
• Antagonist and protagonist on opposite sides of the law.
• Protagonist normally in an authority figure position, as well as one that's slightly more dangerous, such as police officers in Silence of the Lambs and Se7en, or experienced criminals such as in Reservoir Dogs.
• The protagonist will often have a flaw that is exploited by the antagonist, such as John Ferguson's vertigo in Vertigo or Clarice Starling's inexperience.
• A more street-smart and savvy protagonist.

Mise en Scene

• Modern, urban settings.
• Dark environments and low key lighting.
• Use of modern props: mobile phones, computers and cars.
• Weapons such as guns often feature.

Sound

• Suspenseful music, often at key scenes.
• Mostly music suited to the setting and time, such as more modern synthesized music for thrillers such as the Bourne trilogy.

Editing

• Fast paced editing.
• Quick cuts.
• Obtrusive editing.
• Wide variety of shot types

Movie Intro Sequence Analysis

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/17/300/


The title sequence to 300 uses graphics reminiscent of a graphic novel, of which the film 300 is based. This automatically clues the audience as to the style of the film as a whole, and that is more closely follows the graphic novel, as opposed to the original historic event. The images also use a limited colour palette, mainly black for the figures in the foreground, and orange and cream for the background, with uses of red for blood and white for the moon, these colours are also the main colours used during the film itself. The background uses a parchment texture as well, which brings the film's setting to mind along with the graphic novel basis and the colours used almost make the background seem like a watercolour painting, giving it a more artistic feel. The colours are mainly quite dark and this highlights the way in which the film is presented, as it is quite dark and gritty with the content. At the end of the sequence, the background becomes a lot more simplistic towards the end, with just a plain black background, and the blood spatters remaining.


The intro sequence uses a lot of fast camera movements, such as tracks and zooms, to move around the graphics. This creates a more interesting and dynamic feel to the title sequence. Also, when the camera is closest to the figures and they do the most of their movements instead of staying mostly static, it becomes slow motion, which is a stylistic choice used all throughout the film, introducing the audience to it.


Uses of non diegetic sound include a war like drum beat through out, reflecting the battle taking up most of the film's length. It also uses a primal screaming to suggest the brutality of the war, emphasizing the dark nature of the film. There is also a sort of Greek/Middle Eastern string instrument, which alludes to the setting of the film. Also, the sequence lacks a lot of diegetic sound. Normally, the blood splashes and spears hitting people would use a lot more diegetic sound than this sequence does, which seems to prefer to use a quick burst of war like horns whenever a spear hits and no noise at all for the blood, creating a less realistic and more "fantasy" mood for the film. There are some uses of diegetic sound, such as the spears hitting the final person before "300" appears on screen, and the sound of a spear cutting the air as the camera quickly pans past one, but it is still a small amount of use of diegetic sound.


The typography of the titles is very stylistic, using the same colour and appearance as the blood spatter but with a more stylised, graphic novel typography. Also, once they appear, they remain static, placed on the background instead of following the camera. This creates the illusion of the camera moving through a graphic novel, which is supported by the fact that the words are flat and two dimensional, as are the backgrounds.


http://www.artofthetitle.com/2011/09/05/taxi-driver/


The title sequence to Taxi Driver begins with a black background, and the first titles appearing in a simple orange font. This is a very slow opening, in complete contrast to 300's opening, where it almost immediately focuses on the action., and perhaps reflects the general slow approach that the film takes, which the fading in and out of the titles might also suggest. It also puts absolute focus on the titles, making it clear that Robert deNiro is the protagonist and that the film is mainly about his character. There is also a very long delay between the word "in" and the actual name of the film, allowing for the flashier (for the time) main title to appear.


Just before the first shot, a non diegetic drum roll builds up and introduces it, a shot of completely opaque smoke obscuring the screen, introducing the urban environment and the film's more depressing, realistic vision of 1970's New York. Eventually, a slow moving taxi drives through the thick smoke and as it leaves the frame, the title appears behind it, in a more three dimensional version and neon yellow version of the earlier titles' font, in front of more swirling thick smoke. Later titles appear in the same colour, evocative of a New York taxi's famous colour scheme and the font seems to be the same style found on taxi's as well, showing a major part of the film's focus in a more subtle way than the taxi appearing through the smoke.


The non diegetic sound contines as a slow paced jazz song, calming down after the dramatic opening slow drum roll and crescendo of instruments as the taxi appeared. The soundtrack also seems quite melancholic and thoughtful, but not overwhelming so. The use of the jazz genre seems key here, as it uses jazz' associations as being more urban and modern than using classical music would. This sequence, like 300, uses very little diegetic sounds, which seems strange for the realistic style the film seems to be using, but it makes the audience seem quite disconnected from the world, as they hear nothing of it, and for the most part, cannot seem much of it.


The next shot is an extreme close up of Robert deNiro's character's eyes as he looks around, but the audience again feels disconnected as they cannot even see what he is looking at. It also places a focus on that particular character and the sad, tired expression that his eyes seem to show, allowing the audience to see exactly how he feels and his general emotions and attitude from a single shot. Also the cuts between each shot are very slow fades, which go with the emotions of Robert deNiro's character and the slow fades of the titles and the slow music and give the opening sequence a slow and tiring effect, placing the audience in this character's place.


The non diegetic sound also changes to a different jazz song, as slow paced as the last, but seeming slightly more romantic, which coupled with the blurry shots of New York and it's bright neon lights from the inside of the taxi, seem to suggest a sad romance with the city. Also, these slowed down blurry POV shots further emphasise the disconnection to the outside world, and reveal that it's Robert deNiro's character who feels this disconnection.

The opening title sequence for Limitless seems quite simplistic, but is very effective and suits the film. On watching, it seems like one entirely long shot, which constantly seems to be zooming in. This gives a very mind bending and surreal effect and becomes very mesmerising as the camera constantly moves along one street in New York. This effect also introduces the key part of the film, where the main character becomes more intelligent and as a result, a lot more aware of everything in his surroundings. This allows the audience to experience how he feels when he appears just before the title sequence. The very start of the shot, the camera is sideways, while the main title and the street itself appear vertical on the shot. The camera then rotates as it zooms forward to become level with the street. Towards the middle of the sequence, it zooms into an electronic billboard and starts zooming through an orange visualisation of a brain until one part of it turns into a satellite image of Manhattan before zooming into a building and whiting out.


The typography of the titles is much more simple in Limitless, with a simple sans serif font and a pale yellow colour. They also have a simple placement on the frame, just appearing at the bottom of the screen, instead of 300's more inventive placement and Taxi Driver's titles which appear around the screen. This makes the titles a lot more conventional, balancing out the outlandish zooming effect, as a more creative way of showing titles may distract from the effect.


The sequence uses a very repetitive non diegetic soundtrack, mainly being synthesized, which shows the modernity of the film. The soundtrack also uses a lot of different instruments and sounds, which adds to the sequence's disorientating effect. This sequence also uses a lot of diegetic sound, mostly people talking and cars driving around as the camera zooms past them, adding more to the effect of being a lot more aware of surroundings.

Snatch Title Sequence Timeline Research